Anyway, so this is all about how I organize my handbag.
Hand for scale, because you know that's some important shit right there.
I carry more shit in my bag than anyone else I know. I don't even know what to tell people when they ask me what I carry around in my bag - I feel like it IS just the essentials, so I don't understand how I always have to have this giant handbag thing. Anyway, the bag I'm using now is about as small as they get. There's still no room for my lunch if I'm bringing this to work, so I usually only use this one for non-work stuff.
I bought this in the Las Vegas airport, which I'm sure you can tell just by looking at it. I couldn't decide if it was tacky or badass or both, and $50 seemed like a good idea at the time for it. I have this thing where I think I'm going to be one of those zazzy old ladies who have blingy bags and wear a lot of leopard print and put on really vibrant eyeshadow. This bag was an exercise in preparation for that.
Everything fits perfectly in here.
Inside, there are a lot of other little bags. This is ESSENTIAL for handbag organization (HANDBAG HARMONY, if you will. See what I did there?). You can also get purse organizers, which are those things with flat bottoms and many pockets that fit inside your bag, so that when you change bags, you just have to take out the inner organizer and move it from bag to bag. Whomever came up with that is a frigging genius, let me tell you.
Once you have your purse organizer or your many little bags, you're all set to start compartmentalizing your whole entire life!
Upper left is my tech and gadget case, upper right is my headphones case, lower left is my makeup bag and lower right is my emergency bandana which I'm never without. It's not always leopard-print, but YOU ALWAYS NEED AN EMERGENCY BANDANA AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT.
The smaller bags can handle all the little things that roll around in the bottom of your purse. Having your loose items contained like this makes it easier to find what you want when you're looking for stuff (if you can remember where you put everything, which admittedly, is kind of hard sometimes).
The contents of my makeup bag.
In My Makeup Bag
* My favourite lip primer, MAC Prep and Prime Lip ($20 CDN)
* Lipstick, minimum of two. In the picture, they're the little roll in the upper left corner. I de-tube my lipsticks and put them into stackable round containers for easier storage. (Stephen gets these for me from a place called Lee Valley. They come in stacks of 6 and I think he pays something like $2 CDN for each stack)
* A lip liner that matches whatever lipstick I'm carrying
* A lip gloss that matches whatever lipstick I'm carrying
* My Tweezerman travel size tweezers ($16 CDN)
* My lip pencil sharpener (the green thing. It was $12.50)
* An invisible lip liner (I use the cheap one from Maybelline, I got it for $5 from the drugstore and I find it more effective and longer-lasting than the Makeup For Ever or Urban Decay ones)
* A lash comb with metal teeth, essential for separating lashes after mascara. The one I use is from ULTA, it was $6 USD.
* Nail clippers because when you forget to put on your cuticle balm at night, your whole life is one big hangnail.
I think this clear bag came from Sephora with some samples inside as a Gift with Purchase.
In My Tech/Gadget Bag
* My portable charger for my phone ($20 CDN from Future Shop)
* A USB drive ($30 CDN which was steep, but I really wanted Spock. You can get non-Spock ones for like, $10)
* A purse hook (these things are genius, you can get them for like $5 on Amazon)
My agenda and my Kindle
There's a cat lying in the corner. If you lie very still, she may just sniff you and leave you alone.
My Essentials Bag
* My glasses, a contact lens case and lens solution (I wear contacts, shit gets in my eyes, sometimes a bitch has to take out that shit and start again)
* Travel-size sunblock, because you're supposed to REAPPLY EVERY TWO HOURS (I just keep refilling the bottle, but the Hawaiian Tropic sheer touch is actually my favourite)
* My wallet (I don't remember where I bought this coffin-shaped one. Hot Topic, maybe? It wasn't more than $10)
* Hand lotion
* A flashlight (mine is a Sonic Screwdriver, which was $14 CDN, but any flashlight will do. Women should always have flashlights in their purses)
* My Uzi Tactical Pen ($28 CDN and the closest thing to a weapon I will ever be allowed to carry. First, you always need a pen. Second, this one can shatter glass, be used as a defense weapon and it has a hidden universal handcuff key in the top, in case some asshole abducts me)
* Advil, Tums (which are in the blue plaid round case), Kleenex, extra napkins (trust me, you need napkins. The McDonald's ones are my favourites for lipstick-blotting)
* Lip brushes (I put the free ones you get with OCC Lip Tars into that round Blinc mascara case you see at the bottom, beside the Kleenex pack. I need small lip brushes for my de-tubed lipsticks)
* Emergency makeup! I always carry mascara, a red lipstick, a red lip liner and a nude and red lip gloss. I do this because I forget my makeup bag sitting on top of my vanity almost once a week, and then I have no lip stuff.
* Dior Lip Glow lip balm ($35 CDN)
* Mascara, because I tend to not have enough time to put on mascara before I leave the house in the morning, and I always wind up applying it on the bus on the way to work.
* Nicole Oil to Go Cuticle balm ($10 CDN)
The Essentials Bag is the stuff that I always need, can't live without. The pouch itself came with the purse, and when it sits in the bag, it acts as a little divider. I have a weird thing where my wallet always needs to be in a pocket or inaccessible to someone just looking down into my bag (I am always convinced that someone is going to reach into my bag and take stuff), so that's why it goes into the pouch. I like the idea of the pouch converting into a clutch if I need it for the evening, but where the fuck am I ever going where I need a little clutch?
I change my bag about once a month, and typically, I go for something a bit bigger than this so I can also fit my work stuff into it. I don't understand people who don't need large bags and who make fun of me for always being prepared, but ask me for hand lotion.They never see the irony.
No comments:
Post a Comment